People who block Windows 10’s background security and telemetry communications – perhaps in a misguided attempt to protect their privacy – risk compromising their security. This is important with things like ransomware attacks. If Defender sees a suspicious file that it does not recognise, it refers it to the cloud service, which uses heuristics, automated file analysis and machine learning to decide whether or not to block it. These include SmartScreen filter, which checks web addresses for known malware, and a cloud-based service, which was turned on by default in the Anniversary Update edition. Windows 10 is safe enough to use without any extra security software, if you keep the latest default settings.

Windows 10’s security has improved so much that the US Defense Department is moving to it as quickly as possible. Security has been a major concern because some earlier versions of Windows – especially XP – were very insecure. Of course, many people already have data in Evernote and Dropbox, but for the rest of us, they’re optional. Dropbox is better than OneDrive, but OneDrive offers more free storage (5GB vs 2GB) and is good enough.

Today, OneNote is better than Evernote, and OneNote is widely used in schools. For example, I used to recommend Evernote and Dropbox, and now I don’t. In general, it’s only worth installing things that are better than the bundled programs, but it depends on personal preferences and circumstances. The online programs often have their own apps as well, including apps for Android and Apple smartphones and tablets. Windows 10 includes online versions of OneNote, Word, Excel and PowerPoint from Microsoft Office. Online apps are useful if you have a good internet connection. There are apps for Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Netflix, Shazam, Deezer, Pinterest, Twitter, TuneIn Radio etc (but not Snapchat), plus loads of games. New-style apps are downloaded and maintained from a trusted source, the Windows Store, and they run in sandboxes that prevent them from doing bad things. They should only be downloaded from the original source (the software company) or a trusted alternative, such as Major Geeks or Ninite.

Traditional programs are usually the most powerful but also the most dangerous.

Best computer software 2016